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- Race Oncology (RAC) has secured a $3 million strategic investment from three biotechnology investors
- These investors include Kidder Williams’ Managing Director, David Williams, and EFM Asset Management’s Director, Jeff Emmanuel
- The third investor is The Merchant Opportunities Fund, which previously invested $1.8 million in the company back in March
- The placement funds will support its bisantrene phase two combination Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) trial
- This trial is part of Race’s five-path clinical development strategy to treat various cancers
- Company shares are trading 18.7 per cent higher for 92 cents each
Race Oncology (RAC) has secured a $3 million strategic investment from three biotechnology investors.
The strategic placement will issue five million ordinary shares, at a price of 60 cents each.
The issue price represents a 1.96 per cent discount to the 15-day volume-weighted average price, in the context of a 138 per cent rise in Race’s share price over the past 30 days.
The investors
The three biotech investors include Kidder Williams’ David Williams, EFM Asset Management’s Jeff Emmanuel and biotechnology institutional investor, The Merchant Opportunities Fund.
“To have attracted this level of support from such prominent investors with a proven track record of identifying promising early-stage life sciences companies is a significant validation of Race’s clinical potential,” Chief Scientific Officer Dr Daniel Tillett said.
David Williams is the Managing Director of Kidder Williams and has over 30 years’ experience providing mergers and acquisitions, and capital raising advice.
David is also the Chairman of Medical Developments International (MVP), Rate My Agent (RMY) and PolyNovo (PNV).
Jeff Emmanuel is a Director of global equities asset manager, EFM Asset Management. Jeff’s speciality is identifying growth opportunities that present themselves as ’emerging winners,’ backing the individuals behind what he identifies as a successful business.
His previous investments include PolyNovo, BARD1 (BD1) and Sienna Cancer Diagnostics (SDX).
Finally, The Merchant Opportunities Fund is a boutique fund with a particular focus on long-term strategic investments in the Australian biotechnology industry.
Merchant made an initial $1.8 million investment in Race during in March this year for six million ordinary shares at an issue price of 30 cents each.
Using the funds
Race will use the $3 million to fund the bisantrene phase two combination Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) trial. This trial is planned to begin later this year.
The initial $1.8 million by Merchant was also poured into bisantrene with a particular focus on the company’s ‘five-path’ clinical development strategy for the chemotherapy drug.
The five-path strategy is based on the combination therapy of bisantrene in ovarian and breast cancer and the elimination of Measurable Residual Disease (MRD) in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
“This placement has been conducted to strengthen Race’s balance sheet, providing the funding needed to progress our clinical plans, while introducing further experienced, specialist investors to our register,” Executive Chairman Dr John Cullity said.
Shares under the placement are expected to be allocated and issued by Wednesday, July 15 and will rank equally with the existing ordinary shares on issue.
Company shares are trading 18.7 per cent higher for 92 cents each at 12:48 pm AEST.
